Overreacting to early results can be dangerous in Arizona high school football

It's easy to read too much into football results simply because there are so few games and so much attention paid to the game.

Thumbnail image of this articles writer: Jason Skoda
By
Sep 10, 2015, 5:00pm
Video: Justin Mandrola's highlights vs. Saguaro High School

No other sport offers knee-jerk reactions quite like football.

It has something to do with the fact that there are so few games and the fact that they are played only once a week.
Passion and the amount of attention directed toward football play a part in it as well.

It's easy to see a score, or even a performance, when it comes across MaxPreps' live scoring or social media sites.
Making assumptions based on scores can be a difficult way to get a feel for a team.

"It's still too early to know what some teams are about," Mountain Pointe (Phoenix) coach Norris Vaughan said. "It all depends on who they've played."

Take, for example, last week's Pinnacle (Phoenix) win over Saguaro (Scottsdale). Pinnacle was throttled by Chandler to open the year and Saguaro, a perennial champion at the lower division, was expected to bounce back with a win over the bigger, but younger Pinnacle squad.

Yeah, not so much.

A 1-2 record could lead to people drawing conclusions about Saguaro. The fact is, three games is too small a sample size to determine if the Sabercats are in danger of having a bad season.
A 1-2 record could lead to people drawing conclusions about Saguaro. The fact is, three games is too small a sample size to determine if the Sabercats are in danger of having a bad season.
Photo by Steve Paynter
Pinnacle, which had two weeks to prepare after a bye week, won 20-12 to give Saguaro a 1-2 record. All of the sudden Pinnacle is viewed much differently after getting thumped 56-10 by Chandler to open the year, while the Sabercats are no longer seen as a slam dunk champion in Division II.

Then there is Corona del Sol (Tempe), a program that went 1-9 last year, sitting at 2-0 after thumping Westwood in the opener and previously undefeated St. Mary's last week. The Aztecs haven't had a winning season since 2008 and have gone through four coaches for a once-proud program.

There weren't too many observers who thought Corona would be off to a 2-0 start, especially after St. Mary's looked so good the first two weeks. It looked as if the Knights were on their way to rebounding and the Aztecs throttled St. Mary's, 55-26.

"I don't know if I would have picked us either," second-year coach Cory Nenaber said. "We had to earn respect. We've done some good things, but it's two games. Don't get me wrong it was two good games. It just doesn't make a season."

Then there is a game like Paradise Valley (Phoenix) beating Division III favorite Desert Edge (Goodyear), 33-21. Is PV the clear favorite now or did the hard-to-repeat performance of quarterback Daniel Bridge-Gadd, who threw for 350 yards with five touchdowns while rushing for 117 yards, and the rest of the offense just overwhelm Desert Edge in this one meeting?

"We got momentum early and we didn't really let off," Bridge-Gadd said. "We're battle-tested and we know we can compete against anyone."

Jason P. Skoda, a former Arizona Republic sports writer and current Prep Sports Director for 1013 Communications, is a 20-year sports writing veteran. Contact him at jskoda1024@aol.com.

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